Heather McClendon (D-Belvoir) is challenging incumbent Esther Helton-Haynes (R-East Ridge) in the race for Tennessee House of Representatives District 30 in the November general election.
Early voting for the general election begins on Wednesday, October 16.
McClendon, a school psychologist who has never run for public office, said she is running because she believes that our representatives need to be more accessible to the voters.
“I believe voters are disconnected from their representatives,” she said in a telephone interview last week. “We as taxpayers deserve for our representatives to be accountable to us and our communities.”
McClendon referenced citizens going to Nashville in the wake of the school shooting at the Covenant School and begging the legislature to pass common-sense gun laws. She said the legislators kicked grieving parents out of the chamber.
“If I’m part of the legislature that angers the community, I may not think I deserve their anger but they deserve to be listened to,” McClendon said.
District 30 is comprised of all of East Ridge, parts of East Lake, Ridgeside, Shepherd Hills, East Brainerd, and Apison. McClendon said she has been canvasing the district for two months speaking with voters about what they care about.
McClendon said because of the diversity of the district’s voters one area may have different concerns than their neighbors in a different area.
“In East Ridge, people are concerned about housing and housing costs,” she said. “In East Brainerd people are concerned about education and not having clear access to their representatives.
“People are feeling detached from their representatives,” McClendon said. “I’ve got a lot of work to do to build trust.”
McClendon said that voters – along with herself – are concerned about education. She advocates for increasing teacher pay across the state.
“There are a lot of things we need to do to fix public schools,” she said. “We must make sure schools are properly funded. We must give teachers autonomy to teach the way they see fit.”
McClendon said that mandated school testing has been overemphasized. She said that nine weeks out of a school year’s 40 weeks are devoted to preparing for and giving tests to students. She believes this emphasis on testing is “impacting the quantity and quality of time teachers are able to teach.”
In terms of education, McClendon said the state must do a better job of accessing every federal dollar that is available to the state.
McClendon believes the district could be better represented by her as it pertains to access to healthcare, especially women’s reproductive healthcare.
McClendon is critical of Rep. Helton-Haynes’ voting along party lines on the issue of access to reproductive healthcare.
“Helton-Haynes would put forth a bill to add an exception to laws related to reproductive care and then she would withdraw it,” McClendon said. “Whether it was pressure from the party, I don’t know.
“She knew the rigid restrictions the super-majority were passing was too restrictive, but she did not have the courage to do what was right.”
McClendon said that the super-majority of Republicans in the state legislature has created an “echo chamber,” which is not good. If elected she would listen to the ideas and concerns of her constituents, bring them to the house floor and enter into cooperative discussions with a willingness to negotiate.
“Maybe you don’t get it all, but you may get enough and my community would be supported,” McClendon said.
